Roasted Mediterranean Vegetables and Halloumi
With zucchini, yellow squash, tomatoes, bell peppers and onions, these roasted Mediterranean vegetables will be your new favorite vegetarian sheet pan recipe. They roast together with cubes of halloumi as well as garlic cloves that you end up pureeing in an herby sauce with parsley and lemon juice. It’s a good way to use lots of veggies at once.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Sheet pan meals are so easy. And that’s why you never can have enough of them. The prep for this recipe involves slicing vegetables. That’s it. The high heat of the oven will do the rest, and then you end up with veggies and cheese that are both golden and roasted.
This is a wonderful vegetarian main dish. There is no shortage of vegetables with zucchini, squash, peppers, tomatoes and onions. You can serve them with your favorite grains or salad greens for a healthy meal.
Any chance you can include halloumi in a recipe you should. This cheese has nice salty flavor that balances with the rainbow of vegetables and the herby sauce.
This is a simple sauce that’s very tasty. All you need is a food processor to puree the parsley, lemon juice, olive oil and the rest of the ingredients. It’s like a nut-free pesto that has roasted garlic.
What is Halloumi?
Salty in the best way, halloumi is a cheese from Cyprus that can stand up to heat. It has a high melting point, so you can grill it, pan fry it or roast it. This semi-hard cheese is made from goat’s or sheep’s milk or a combination of both. (I love this grilled halloumi and veggies recipe or grilled halloumi & vegetables on skewers).
The Ingredients
This is what you need:
- Vegetables: I use zucchini, yellow squash, red onions, bell peppers and halved grape tomatoes or cherry tomatoes. They are a beautiful combination of colors, flavors and textures.
- Olive oil: No Mediterranean recipe is complete without olive oil. I toss the vegetables in extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper right on the sheet pan before they go in the oven. You also need oil for the herby sauce.
- Garlic: Individual garlic cloves roast in their skins on the pan. Then I squeeze them into the sauce with the lemon juice and fresh herbs,
- Halloumi: Once you have halloumi, you will be hooked on its salty, tangy bite. It goes so well with the vegetables. If you can’t find halloumi, you can substitute with feta cheese. Just break it or cut it into half-inch cubes.
- Herby sauce: With parsley, lemon juice, roasted garlic, olive oil, white wine vinegar, salt and pepper, you make the pesto-inspired sauce in a food processor.
How To Make Roasted Mediterranean Vegetables and Halloumi
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
1. Toss the vegetables with olive oil, salt and pepper. You should do this right on the baking sheet. Then spread them across the pan, so they are in a single layer.
2. Roast the vegetables for 25-30 minutes and then toss in the halloumi. Make sure to spread everything across the pan again after you stir around the ingredients. Roast the halloumi and vegetables until they are lightly golden at the edges, about 10-12 minutes more.
3. Make the herby sauce. Squeeze the roasted garlic cloves into the food processor with the parsley, lemon juice, white wine vinegar, salt and pepper. Chop them and with the motor running, drizzle the oil through the feeder tube. Process until the sauce is combined.
4. Spoon the sauce onto the Mediterranean vegetables and halloumi. Do this gently, so you don’t break up the warm veggies.
Serving Roasted Vegetables
As mentioned, this is recipe is a good choice for a vegetarian main course that you can serve with barley, couscous or farro. Or stir the veggies and cheese into bowls of pastas like penne or fusilli, which are all short shapes. For a greens, try this Arugula Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette or a classic Italian Chopped Salad.
You can also serve the Mediterranean roasted vegetables as a side dish with proteins like chicken, steak or salmon.
Leftovers & Storage
You can keep leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge up to 3 days. Warm leftovers in a 350-degree F oven or in the microwave. If you want, you can eat them cold in a salad with spinach, arugula or chopped romaine.
FAQs
No. It’s best not to line the pan with parchment paper or foil. You want the veggies to make direct contact with the hot metal of the baking sheet then they are in the oven. The oil they are tossed in will prevent them from sticking to the pan.
400 degrees F is a reliable temperature to roast vegetables on a sheet pan because they end up tender in the middle with lightly browned edges.
Did you make these roasted vegetables? Please leave a rating and comment below. Thanks!
Roasted Mediterranean Vegetables and Halloumi
Ingredients
- For vegetables and halloumi
- 1 zucchini, quartered lengthwise and sliced 1/2-inch thick
- 1 yellow squash, quartered lengthwise and sliced 1/2-inch thick
- 1 small red onion, halved and sliced 1/2-inch thick
- 1 bell pepper, red, orange or yellow, diced 1/2-inch
- 1-1/2 cups halved grape tomatoes
- 5 garlic cloves, skin-on
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 pound halloumi cheese, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- For herby sauce
- 1 cup parsley leaves
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4-1/3 cup olive oil
- Cooked grains for serving i.e. barley, quinoa, farro, couscous
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- On a sheet pan, toss the zucchini, squash, red onions, peppers, tomatoes and garlic with 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Spread into a single layer. Roast for 25 minutes until the vegetables are starting to brown at the edges.
- Toss the vegetables and add the halloumi to the pan. Continue cooking for 10-15 minutes until the cheese is lightly golden. Save the roasted garlic for the sauce.
- For the herby sauce, squeeze the garlic cloves out of their skins into a food processor. Add the parsley, lemon juice, white wine vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Puree the mixture, chopping the parsley leaves. With the motor running, drizzle 1/4-1/3 cup olive oil through the feeder tube until the mixture is fully combined.
- Spoon the sauce onto the vegetables and halloumi on the sheet pan. Gently toss them around to coat everything.
Notes
Nutrition
Recipe originally published May 3, 2021. Updated: May 16, 2023.
This is fantastic! So delicious and fresh. I served it over farro and made your herby sauce with cilantro because I was out of parsley. It was just perfect. Appreciate it!
Cilantro is a great substitute for the sauce!
Love this recipe! Have made several times and usually make quinoa to go along with it
Your recipe is extremely printer unfriendly
Hi Marika. I just updated the format of the recipes, so they are now much more printer friendly.
Loved that herby sauce, brought grilled veggies to a new level!